South Stanly shuts out Midway 3-0 in first game of NCHSAA 1-A baseball championship series

Jaclyn Shambaugh Staff writer

Friday

May 31, 2013 at 12:01 AM

GREENSBORO - South Stanly pitcher Russ Weiker's grounder to shortstop should have ended the inning.

Instead, what should have been a routine play turned into the first of three errors for Midway, and the start of a downturn from which the Raiders couldn't recover.

"We kind of got down on ourselves after that first error," coach Jason Fussell said. "And we never really got anything going after that."

South Stanly (29-5) beat Midway (26-4) 3-0 to take Game 1 of the three-game state 1-A baseball championship series, held Friday at NewBridge Bank Park.

The teams will meet again today at 11 a.m. for Game 2. If necessary, Game 3 will start at 5 p.m.

Weiker's ground ball, hit with two outs in the top of the third inning, rolled through the legs of Raiders shortstop Heath Miller. The error allowed Ryan Coley, in as a courtesy runner for catcher Trey Mabry, to score from second to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.

Weiker, who batted in another run for the Bulls in the fifth, turned in a stellar performance on the mound.

The senior southpaw, who was the most valuable player in last year's 1-A final series, gave up one hit in pitching a complete game. He struck out eight and retired the last 14 straight to end the game. He improved his record to 12-1

"The lefty did a good job. He kept us off balance," Fussell said. "Of course, lefties have given us trouble in the past."

Designated hitter Tyler Pope had the lone Raiders' hit, a sharp grounder up the middle in the second inning. He was stranded at second base.

The Raiders got a runner in scoring position in the first on a walk and a hit batsman, and again in the third on an error and a wild pitch. In both instances, the runner was stranded at second base.

"I've never seen our kids beg for a hit, and today they started begging a little bit," Fussell said. "We didn't play a bad game, but we didn't play with that relaxed kind of confidence that we've always had."

Taylor Calcutt pitched a complete game for the Raiders for his second loss of the season against 10 wins. He allowed eight hits and struck out six.

South Stanly is in the finals for the fourth in the last five years and is the defending state 1-A champion. Midway is in the championship series for the first time since 1981 and had a 10-game winning streak snapped.

Staff writer Jaclyn Shambaugh can be reached at 609-0651 or shambaughj@fayobserver.com.

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